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The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Stephen Chbosky

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Sep 28, 2012 Ronald Lim rated it liked it

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I started out impressed by “Perks”. There’s a lot of harrowing stuff that goes on in the book – domestic abuse, drug use, rape, and abortions — and Charlie’s matter-of-fact narration is quite effective in heightening the heartbreak and the horror inherent in situations like these.

Chbosky is also adept at conjuring up that particular atmosphere one only seems to experience right in the throes of adolescence. That feeling of “being infinite” while listening to a perfect song w Originally from here.

I started out impressed by “Perks”. There’s a lot of harrowing stuff that goes on in the book – domestic abuse, drug use, rape, and abortions — and Charlie’s matter-of-fact narration is quite effective in heightening the heartbreak and the horror inherent in situations like these.

Chbosky is also adept at conjuring up that particular atmosphere one only seems to experience right in the throes of adolescence. That feeling of “being infinite” while listening to a perfect song while on a drive with friends is certainly something most of us can remember, and when he write about the intensity with which these teenage characters go through love and lust and longing it rings true for the most part.

However, I just couldn’t get into “Perks” as much as I thought I would. I’m a sucker for coming-of-age books and films, but there was just a variety of things that prevented me for being full onboard the “Perks” adoration train.

For one, Charlie’s precociousness and sensitivity kind of becomes grating halfway through the book. I think I started rolling my eyes somewhere around the part where Charlie gives everybody perfect Christmas presents and everybody is in awe of him and then he ends up crying.

I also had really mixed feelings about the twist that happens near the end of the novel. While it explained a lot of the things that Chbosky intimated throughout the book, I couldn’t help but feel that revealing this bit about Charlie’s past in this manner felt like a cheap trick, something along the lines of Nicholas Sparks killing off the love interest just to make things extra sappy.

But there’s also no denying the fact that this book means a lot to a lot of people, and I think part of the reason why I didn’t connect with it as much as others have is the fact that I’m reading “Perks” quite some time after my own adolescence. I can easily imagine teenagers getting into this book as much as I got into “The Catcher in the Rye” when I was in high school, and putting things into that context kind of explains the importance that “Perks” has in so many young people’s lives. Perhaps the only thing that’s wrong with it is that it wasn’t exactly written with me — the here and now me rather than the adolescent one — in mind. ...more

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Oct 22, 2011 Leia rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned

May 18, 2011 Meann rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned

Mar 30, 2011 Claire rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-paperback

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